What it Takes
by Zell373
Summary: After Ultimecia's defeat, being the best really seems to be taking its toll on Zell. He's acting very weird and his friends are becoming worried. Will he be able to control himself and return to normal...?
1. Star Crossed Lovers

**Disclaimer**-I don't own any of the char. of FFVIII, I just own the plot, please READ, REVIEW and ENJOY!

_**What it Takes **_

_**Ch.1: Star Crossed Lovers **_

The dying sun cast dark shadows across the plains, only to be disturbed by the small amount of light radiating off the pale moon.

Under its beautiful rays, sits two silhouettes resting on the golden sands of Balamb's beach.

Two young blondes lay entwined in each other's arms gazing at the starry night sky.

"Wow look at the stars, aren't they beautiful?" Came the soft resignation of a female voice.

"All the stars in the heavens couldn't possibly be more radiant than you are." Responded a deep yet soothing masculine voice.

"Oh Zelly, you're making me blush." She said while placing her delicate hands over her cheeks.

"I'm sorry Quisty, but you know it's true." Zell coo'd in her ear, while brushing away beautiful honey colored lock that was resting gently in front of her face and placing it in its correct spot behind her ear.

Zell gazed at the goddess of a woman before him, and thanked Hyne that he can finally call her, his own. Zell got lost in her eyes, noticing a breathtaking sparkle that even out stupefied the shining stars above. Zell stared at Quistis for the longest time, admiring how her milky flesh reflected the pale moonlight that illuminated the night.

Noticing Zell was lost in his own little world, Quistis playfully placed her finger on his nose, making Zell scrunch his face, and frown in confusion.

"Zelly, wakey wakey, it's time for you to stop daydreaming." Quistis teased.

"Zell's eyes focused on her once more and his gaze softened. "Sorry Quisty, but you know how your beauty hypnotizes me." Zell flattered.

Quistis could feel heat and color quickly race to her cheeks. She tried turning her head, so Zell wouldn't notice, but her chin was tenderly caught by his hand. He tipped her face up gently to meet his.

Quistis couldn't help but just melt with the first touch of Zell's hand. A warm feeling corroded her stomach as she noticed the way Zell was looking at her.

Quistis softly gazed at the handsome man before her. She never could realize why she never thought he was good looking until only a little while ago. His eyes always seemed to burn with passion, and no matter what, he could laugh and joke about anything. That is what Quistis admired the most about him, his shear innocence and good nature.

Many teased Quistis for always being too serious, much like Squall. Slowly she began to realize everyone was right, and actually became jelous of Selphie, Rinoa, and even Zell. They were the "children" of the bunch, without a care in the world. Quistis wished she could just have a piece of what they did, with Zell she finally does.

After snapping out of her reverie, she noticed her finger was gently tracing Zell's tattoo. It seemed strange to her, but in the soft glow of the pale moon, it looked as though the mysterious flames on Zell's face danced about, making Zell even more attractive.

Zell gradually leaned closer to Quistis, he could feel the heat radiating off her warm body mingling with his own.

A swarm of butterflies were set loose within Quistis' stomach as she found herself involuntarily leaning forward as well.

Their lips parted ever so slightly, Zell tenderly brushed his lips across Quistis', gently toying with them. Zell couldn't believe how soft her lips were, it was as if they were wrapped in a fine silk.

Quistis softly grazed her tongue over Zell's lips, outlining their smooth texture. After a few moments their lips were locked together, it was though they were perfectly made to fit together.

Quistis could smell Zell's overpowering aroma, it was intoxicating her senses. It was the pleasurable smell of an engaging cologne, mixed with a slight hint of the ocean breeze.

A scent too was caught by Zell's nostrils; it was a breathtaking scent of lilacs gently fused with vanilla.

Slowly Zell pulled away, making him and Quistis long for more. He gazed at the love of his life and could feel his heart race with passion.

"Quistis.." Zell started slowly.

"Yeah Zell?" Quistis tenderly spoke.

"I know we've only been going out for a short amount of time, but…" Zell halted as his words stuck in his throat and sweat quickly began to congregate upon his palms. His gaze quickly fell to the soft golden sand beneath him.

"Yes…" Quistis stated, while putting a reassuring hand on Zell's shoulder, trying to give him the courage to go on.

Zell's eyes were intense, burning with an enigmatic fury. He stares deep within the blazing sapphire eyes before him.

"I love you…"

**A/N**: Well there is the first chapter, I hope you all liked it, I know it was kind of short, but don't worry next chapter will be up very soon. Please don't' forget to review and tell me what you think, I hope you will all like it.


	2. Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any char. of FFVIII, I just own the plot. So feel free to _**READ, REVIEW, and ENJOY!  
**_

**Ch.2:** _**Calm Before the Storm**_

The young female blonde's eyes immediately welled up with tears, as she sat listening to the slightly smaller blonde pour out his heart and soul.

Quistis almost instantly grabbed Zell and pulled him into a tight, loving embrace.

"Oh Zell…I love you too." Quistis spoke through unshed tears.

There the two young lovers sat, lost in each other's arms; desperately holding on to a moment they wished would last forever. Alas as soon as it came, it was forever gone, a distant memory playing over and over in the corner of their minds.

A cool ocean breeze slithers by, sending shivers through the happy couple's spins.

"It's getting cold, we should head back." Zell said and draped his jacket around Quistis' small shoulders, offering what little warmth his surprisingly short jacket could.

Quistis pulled the jacket tightly around her.

"Thanks Zelly, you're such a gentleman." Quistis complimented.

"Yeah I got some moves." Zell beamed and winked at his girlfriend.

"So tomorrow is the big day, huh?" Quistis questioned as they began to walk back to Garden.

"What?" Zell asked, confused at the question.

"You know, it's our first mission since Ultimecia's defeat." Quistis replied.

"Yeah so, what's the big deal?" Zell asked.

"Well Squall said that since we were the one's who defeated the sorceress, that now Garden, well mainly those who defeated Ultimecia, meaning we, will be under some intense scrutiny. We need to be in top shape, and show everyone why we are the best. He said one little screw up and everything we worked so hard for could come crashing down." Quistis explained.

"Oh, well hey no worries, with all of us working as a team, nothing can go wrong." Zell said as he wrapped his arm around the slender waist of his companion.

After a few moments they were finally back inside Garden and reached Quistis' door.

"Thanks for walking me to my room." Quistis whispered so not to wake any of the students sleeping on the same floor.

"No prob. babe." Zell leaned in and gently place a tender kiss on Quistis' cheek.

She blushed slightly and proceeded into her room, while giving a slight wave to her boyfriend in the hall. Slowly she closed her door, so it wouldn't make a peep and disturb everyone else.

"Damn!" Quistis cursed as she looked down.

It was too late when she realized she still had Zell's jacket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Aw well." Quistis said and smiled at the fact that she could be a ditz sometimes, but then again she wasn't the only one who forgot. She started to giggle at that thought, remembering that Zell forgets everything, he's the type of person who would forget their head if it wasn't attached.

She placed the jacket neatly across the back of her couch, so she wouldn't forget it tomorrow. She walked into the bathroom and took her hair out of her patented ponytail and let it cascade down her neck, gently fluttering about around her shoulders.

She quickly brushed her teeth and rinsed with mouthwash. She loved the intense tingly sensation that exuded in her mouth after using mouthwash. She went to the dresser that was dominating the eastern half of her room and pulled out crimson colored satin pajamas. She undressed and slipped them on over her vulnerable naked body.

They were implausibly soft; it felt like she was wrapping her body in tender clouds. Finally she made her way to her queen size bed; she knew she didn't need a bed this big, but it gave her plenty of room to stretch out, she has always been somewhat claustrophobic.

A smile curled its way onto her sweet lips as she began to reminisce about the night's events. She quickly fell asleep with a slight smirk still etched on her features.

Zell was in bright spirits as he made his way back to his room.

"Wow, I can't believe tonight went so well." Zell spoke to the listening shadows.

Shortly thereafter he made his way to his room. Upon opening the door he fumbled around for the light switch, and in doing so he clumsily stubbed his toe on a nearby coffee table.

"Ahhh! What in Hyne was I thinking placing this damn thing right in the way of the friggin' light switch?" Zell cursed himself for not being well versed in organization.

After hopping around on one foot for a few minutes he finally settled down and managed to turn on the light without any further incidents. He quickly stripped down to his boxers which were a bright shade of indigo, with an elegant picture of Shiva designed down the right side.

He made his way to the bathroom and brushed his purly whites. After brushing he stood in front of the mirror for a moment and flashed his trademark wide, toothy grin. He winked at himself and strolled over to his bed. It wasn't anything special, just a twin size bed, with a few pillows and a couple of body pillows. Then again Zell didn't need anything extravagant or comfy to sleep on, he could sleep anywhere.

He collapsed backwards on his bed, as a sea of blankets encased his chilled body. He stared up at the moonlight that slyly slithered through the cracks in his blinds and danced about on his ceiling, causing the ever present darkness to flee.

'_I wonder what the big deal is with tomorrow. I mean yeah we have been getting a lot, and I mean A LOT of attention from anyone and everyone, but come on, what's the worst that could happen…?' _Zell's thoughts questioned his mind repeatedly.

**A/N**: Well there's chapter 2, nothing special, just keeping the plot in line, but don't worry, some **major** things are about to happen, lets just hope Zell will be alright, not to mention everyone else…No worries, I should be able to post the next chapter SOON :), but 'til then please read and REVIEW this one, and tell me what ya think. P.S. once again AZND45, you da bomb! Thank you!


	3. Preparations

**Disclaimer**: I dont' own any of the FFVIII characters, I just own the story.

_**What it Takes... **_

**Ch.3 _Preparations_**

The waking sun orbits around the Earth, shining intense rays that begin their relentless attack on closed blinds and closed eyes.

After a futile effort, blood shot eyes burst open to a sun splashed room.

A loud yawn escapes the small blonde as he sits up and stretches floridly. "Ugh…it's way to early…" Zell murmured to no one in particular.

With eyes more than half closed Zell groggily stumbles to the bathroom. Not realizing where certain objects in his room were, he gracefully rams his shin into the coffee table.

"Ahh! Son of a….Piece of shit table! What the hell is it doing in the way of damn near EVERYTHING?" Zell roared as he collapsed backwards on the ground hard, while rubbing his shin fast enough to start a fire.

"Oh my poor shin…It's ok daddy still loves you…" Zell sat on his floor for a moment blowing on his injury, hoping the pain would soon subside. With the pain dulled to a slight throbbing, Zell removed his hand barricade to reveal a small red bump where his shin connected with the table.

Zell shook his head, and a look of anger swarmed his features. "That is the last damn time!" Zell walked over to his balcony and open the sliding glass door. He stood out on his terrace and peered down at the ground so far beneath him.

He scanned the area for any personnel. Zell strolled back inside and had a huge maniacal grin plastered on his face. He looked at the table and had a fanatical sparkle in his eyes. He pulled the table out onto his veranda and once again peered over the edge. Once he realized the coast was clear, he lifted the table over his head and with all his might hurled the wooden demon over the rail.

Quickly Zell went back inside and closed the sliding glass door. Even with the door firmly shut, Zell could still hear a loud crash.

"I feel better." Zell beamed with his trademark smile while dusting his hands off.

Not wanting to look suspicious Zell went about with his daily routine. He sauntered into his bathroom, feeling quite proud of himself, and turned on the shower faucet. A slight hiss emerged from the shower as the water flowed through the rusty copper pipes.

Zell waited for a moment and stuck his hand under the mist of rain. It was still a bit chilly to get in, so Zell waited patiently, by looking at himself in the mirror. After a few smiles and couple of flexing poses Zell hopped in. The comforting warm water cascaded down his tired body, cleansing him of fatigue and odor.

Zell lathered himself up with soap and quickly washed his hair. After about twenty minutes Zell was content and turned off the water. He jumped out of the shower and into a steam filled room. He dried off, and took his towel to wipe off the mirror.

He reached under his sink and pulled out a ridiculously large bottle of hair gel. He squirted more than enough into his hand and slicked up his fluffy blonde hair. First he put his hair into a perfect point standing straight up and then evened it out into two horns. He stated at himself and burst out laughing at the fact that it reminded him of Ifrit.

He then proceeded to cross his arms and let out a low growl. He laughed some more and then slicked his hair all the way back. He squinted his eyes slightly and then frowned.

"Hey chicken wuss what are you lookin' at." Zell's reflection questioned, in a low mocking voice as he resembled a smaller, and in Zell's opinion, better looking Seifer.

The corners of Zell's mouth began the quiver as trying to hold a serious face became difficult. Finally Zell burst out laughing, and decided it was almost time to get going. He styled his hair, the way he always does, the scattered spikes in the front and the back smoothed out.

He brushed his teeth and rinsed with mouthwash. He winked and smiled at his reflection. He returned to his living and felt like something was missing.

"Oh yeah…duh…I think it makes the room look more spacious, yup." Zell mused to himself upon realizing that not more than an hour ago he hurled his coffee table of his balcony.

A loud booming voice comes across the intercom. "Will Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, Rinoa Heartilly, Selphie Tilmitt, and Quistis Trepe please come to the conference room, I repeat will Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, and Quistis Trepe please come to the conference room. That will be all thank you."

"Well I guess its show time." Zell chimed to himself.

Zell hurriedly got dressed, nothing special just hte usually shorts, shirt, and of course, jean-jacket. He nonchalantly strolled down the hall to the elevator. After punching in the correct floor number he made his way to the conference room. As he opened the door, he realized that once again he was…late. Everyone else has already been seated and apparently were waiting for him.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." Zell apologized while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and flashing a huge grin.

"Zell please have a seat."

Zell gazed at the front of the room, to see Cid motioning him to sit down.

Zell looked for an open seat and saw Quistis waving him over towards her.

'_That's my girl, always got my back!' _Zell thought happily as he sat in the seat next to the slightly taller female blonde.

"Ok…So first thing first, I received a very disturbing report; it appears that someone has hurled a wooden coffee table out one of the dorms. Would any of you know anything about that?" Cid questioned those before him while cocking his eyebrow at Zell.

As soon as the word table came out of Cid's mouth Zell almost immediately choked on the glass of water that was laid out for everyone. Quistis in a panic had to use all her strength and pound on Zell's back so he would stop choking.

Everyone just watch in amazement as Zell's face was turning a lovely shade of cerulean and the small Quistis was beating on his back with all her might. Finally Zell drew in a much needed ragged breath.

"Zell are you ok?" Zell could sense the worry in Quistis' voice.

"I…I'm fine…" Zell choked out through coughs.

'_Dammit, as if that wasn't obvious! Nice going Zell, way to be smooth.'_ Zell cursed himself for being such a dork, not to mention bad liar.

Now Zell's face was a blazing shade of red, one that closely resembled the color of a Ruby Dragon. Sweat began congregating upon his palms as he nervously fidgets in his chair. Zell's throat instantly dries up, so Zell leans forward to take another sip of water.

"Zell…" Cid called his name, and as soon as the water slipped through the threshold of Zell's lips, He involuntarily spit the water out all over the table in front of him.

"Oh I'm so sorry…" Zell stammered and tried cleaning the water up with the bottom of his shirt.

Cid and Squall simultaneously shook their heads.

"Zell you wouldn't know anything about this incident would you?" Cid questioned Zell in somewhat of a mocking tone.

Zell could swear that the temperature of the room was hotter than the Fire Cavern.

'_Come on Zell, be cool, just be cool…Cool as ice, yeah that's it, be as cool as ice, you got this. They don't know you did it, and if they even think you did, how could they prove it? They couldn't, so you got nothing to worry about man, just remember be cool…' _Zell thought.

"Well…?" Cid's voice interrupted Zell's thoughts.

"Cool as ice…" Zell spewed out; unaware that what he just said was supposed to stay in his head.

"What?" Everyone questioned in unison.

'_Dammit Zell, way to go, that's two strikes. I mean if they don't know by now, then they are even denser than I am.'_ "Um..No sir, don't know anything about it." Zell quickly mumbled out and continued drinking his "troublesome" water, while keeping his gaze fixated on the ground in front of him.

"Alright then, the real reason why you are all here…" Cid started.

Zell immediately let out a rather loud sigh of relief, and clumsily drew more attention to himself.

'_Damn' _Zell inwardly cursed himself.

Cid continued, "As you know today is your first real mission after Ultimecia's defeat. Now I know you have all been through the training center on a daily basis, but your skills may be a little rusty considering the monsters in there are fairly weak compared to the ones you fought in the castle. That's ok, but remember, because you were the one's who defeated the sorceress, the entire world will be watching you closely, especially Galbadia." Cid rambled, pacing back and forth with his hands nervously fidgeting behind his back.

"Excuse me, but what's the deal with Galbadia?" Selphie brightly interrupted.

Cid ceased his nervous pacing and looked up at beautiful, petit brunette, then he fixed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and moved them to their proper spot. "Well as you all know they were the ones who helped the sorceress and also wanted to take over the world. So they are going to look for any excuse to start another war, and if we show that we are weak and out of shape, then that will give them the courage to start a war all their own. The only reason why they haven't sent their army over here is because right now they know we are too powerful, but should they find out anything different…lets just say it won't be good. So it's sufficed to say, you need to be at the top of your game from now on."

"What's the mission?" Squall's stern tone came across the room.

"Oh right…as of late there have been an increased number of monsters in the Tomb of the Unknown King, northeast of Deling City on the peninsula." Cid replied.

"Aren't there always monsters roaming around in that thing?" Irvine's southern drawl shot across the room.

"Yes, but not this many, and these monsters are at the level four and five class." Cid stated once again fixing his glasses.

"Whoa… that's crazy, I wonder what they are all doing there?" Zell questioned.

"At this point and time we don't know, all the information that has been given to you, is all the information we have. So remember be careful and do your best. Oh… and one more thing, this isn't a complete extermination mission, all you need to do is just do one quick sweep of the premises, destroy only the monsters in your way and leave the rest for now."

"But why?" Rinoa's sweet voice questioned.

"Because like Irvine said, monsters are in there all the time, it would take far too long, and be a complete waste of time, so just do a quick sweep. That will be all."

As soon as Cid finished everyone immediately stood up and placed their right hand in front of their face. Cid replied by copying the action and then finished the salute by throwing his arm back down at his side.

With the formalities done Cid left the room, so Squall and the others could deliberate and choose teams.

"Alright, you have all been briefed of the mission, now I figure it will be much quicker if we just split up into two teams." Squall stated and looked around the room.

"Alright Irvine, you will be leader of the second team and that will consist of you, Selphie, and Rinoa."

Irvine nodded at his SeeD commander, signaling everything was good to go.

"I will be the leader of the first team, Quistis and Zell you will be going with me." Squall glanced over at the two blondes who seemed ecstatic about being together on their first mission as a couple.

"Sounds good to us." Zell beamed for the both of them.

"Alright then, we will leave in precisely one hour, which should give you all plenty of time to get something to eat, stock up on whatever you need, and also make sure you are all properly junctioned." Squall stated and then watched the couples bound out of the room.

Quistis pushed in her chair and began for the exit, while Zell rushed after her. Upon reaching the lovely blonde to his left, Zell quickly entwined his fingers with hers.

It wasn't until now that Zell first realized how small her tiny hands were. He was always the small one, but Quistis' hand was a nice change of pace for him. Her touch was warm and soft compared to Zell's rather rough hands, but that was expected of him. Because out of everyone in the group, he was the only one who used those same hands as his only weapon, his last line of defense. They were made for fighting and that's exactly what they did. But Quistis was rather surprised at how gentle those strong hands could be, it was as if they were cradling a one of a kind rare jewel.

They happily strolled to their dorms. Quistis parted upon reaching her door.

"Bye Zell, see you in a bit." She flirtatiously blew a kiss towards Zell.

He reached up and caught the kiss and then placed it next to his heart and smiled. Quistis returned the contagious grin and closed her door.

Zell anxiously bounded to his dorm, flying past all the other students. Many of whom gave him peculiar looks, but Zell didn't mind, he got those looks all the time, and that's mostly because he does dumb and klutzy things.

Zell made it to his door in record time. He whooshed through his door's threshold and entered his room. He began stocking up on several magic spells, along with some potions.

"Well that should be more thane enough, all I need now is…hmmm…Oh yeah, duh, my Ehrgeiz." Zell stated to himself, while his hand instantaniously flew to his forehead.

He walked to his dresser that dominated the eastern half of his room and began rummaging through his rather messy drawers. Shirts, socks, boxers, pants, everything started flying out of his drawers, everything except what he was looking for.

"Where in Hyne, did I put those damn things?" Zell's voice was much more aggravated as his search became a little more frantic. "Screw this!"

Zell was finally fed up, he took out every single drawer and dumped its contents into one massive pile in the middle of his floor.

"AAAHHHH!" Zell roared and through up his hands in anger, as he couldn't find his gloves.

Then it hit him. "Oh no…" Zell's face was pure white, and his jaw dropped to the floor.

"You've got to be kidding me; I left them in the drawer of that damn DEMON coffee table!" Zell grabbed all his gear and then ran towards the door. He clumsily triped over his massive pile of clothes and fell face first on the ground.

"Oh my poor nose!" Zell cried, covering his face with his hands. He slowly removed his hands, and checked for blood, luckily there wasn't any. He wrinkled and wiggled his nose a few times and decided it was good to go.

He then commenced his fast pace and headed out where he hurled the table out his window.

Once Zell got there he didn't see the table, or anything left of it.

"Oh come on, gimme a friggin break here." Zell became more frustrated and panicked.

He rushed back inside, flying past the seemingly faceless people. "Where in Hyne could that table be?" Zell's mind raced, searching for any clue to whereabouts of the table.

In his travels he didn't even noticed he accidentally bumped into Headmaster Cid.

"Zell" Cid called after the frantic blonde.

Upon realizing the voice, Zell stopped dead in his tracks.

'_Damn now he is going to lecture me for running in the halls, and I don't have time for this.'_ Zell turned around quickly and was about to apologize, when low and behold Cid was holding his most precious Ehrgeiz.

Zell immediately dove after Cid, enveloping him in a huge bear hug. That's when it struck him like one of Quezacotl's lighting attacks. Zell's face quickly turned a ghostly shade of white.

'_Oh no, if he has my gloves than that means…'_

"Zell I thought these were your's, and you'll never believe it, they were found in the drawer of the table that was mysteriously thrown at someone's window." Cid spoke in a teasing tone.

"Haha…Uh yeah, that is pretty weird…ha…ha…" Zell replied nervously and went to reach for his gloves, but suddenly Cid pulled him in closely. Zell saw a strange look in Cid's eyes.

"Ya know what I think, someone was probably trying to sabotage you, and then get rid of the evidence….yeah that's got o be it…" Cid hypnotized in a near whisper.

Zell just shook his head, not knowing what to say and took his gloves and quickly walked away.

'_Wow, thank Hyne he is a strange old man, I mean come on, how could he come up with something LIKE THAT? Well whatever, it got me off the hook.'_ Zell thought with a big grin, while heading back to the conference room to meet everyone and head out.

A/N: Sorry this one took so long, usually I post a chapter everyday, or at least every other day, but i have been really busy, so SORRY:( But no worries, I made this one pretty long, and I decided to make this chapter a comical one, because the after this, things are going to get way too serious. Many strange and even bad things are going to start happening, so be ready. Also I just want to give props to those who deserve them, likea person who has been there from the begining **azndreamer45**, and of course the one and only **SelphieFan!** You two ROCK! BOOYAH! So yup I hope you all like this chapter, and please don't forget to **REVIEW! **


	4. A Really Long Drive

Disclaimer: I don't any char. of FFVIII, I just own the story. Please read, review and enjoy.

**Ch.4 : _A long Drive..._**

A warm sensation overcomes Zell's waist. Zell looks down to see two petit arms enveloping him in a loving embrace from behind.

Zell couldn't help but smile, and wrap his arms around those already occupying his midsection. "Hey Quisty, you ready for this mission or what?" Zell asked the lovely blonde behind him.

"With you by my side, I'm ready for anything." Quistis coo'd in Zell's ear.

Zell could feel his stomach twist and turn, from all the butterflies. Quickly the small blonde could feel his face turn a beat red, but he didn't mind, he was happy.

After a few moments the blonde couple strolled into the conference room. Everyone was already present, and ready to get going.

"Ok, now that we are all here and have all been briefed, we should get going. We will ride out together and split up once we arrive at the destination." Squall said, pacing back and forth.

"Wow Squall, you do resemble Cid in a lot of ways." Selphie giggled along with everyone else.

Squall just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Whatever…Alright team, let's get going."

With that everyone filed out of the room, and headed for the parking lot. One by one they piled into the vehicle, it was a little crowed, but nobody minded it just gave them an excuse to be extremely close to their significant other.

Squall and Rinoa of course were in the front, with Squall driving and Rinoa navigating. Selphie and Irvine were in the next row, doing what they do best, being clowns and all lovey dovey. Zell and Quistis got in the far back, not really doing to much just sitting quietly snickering every now and then at Squall yelling at Selphie and Irvine, telling them to knock it off.

"When in hyne are we going to get there?" Squall impatiently huffed as Ivine's and Selphie's horseplay was aggrevating.

Zell watched as Irvine pointed at Selphie's small yellow dress.

"Sefie you got something on your dress." Irvine's southern drawl echoed throughout the car.

Selphie worriedly looks down, "What is it!" She shrieked, hoping that it wasn't an insect, but more importantly a stain, she loved that dress, it was her favorite one!

Irvine quickly lifted his finger and flipped her nose and then burst out laughing at Selphie's gullibility, not to mention how she went cross eyed for a moment watching Irvine's finger.

"You jerk!" Selphie cried and turned to face the passing scenery through the window and started to pout.

"But Sefie, I was just playin'. Please don't be mad at me." Irvine pleaded with his distressed girlfriend.

"Hmph." Was all Selphie replied and continued staring out the window, with her delicate arms folded across her chest.

Irvine put on his biggest and saddest puppy dog face and pleaded with Selphie one more time, "Pu…pu…please don't do this to me Sefie…I…I…I might develop a…stu…stu…stutter…"

Selphie couldn't help but smile at Irvine's childish talk. Irvine saw Selphie smirk a little and he knew that was his chance, so he wrapped the tiny brunette in his arms and smothered her with kisses.

"Oh Irvy…" Selphie moaned, and returned the embrace.

But as soon as it happened it stopped, Selphie ripped out of Irvine's arms and flew as close to her window as possible. Her face was a ghostly shade of white, and her eyes were as big as softballs.

"Irvine, you have something on your hat!" Selphie cried in a near panic.

"Haha, very funny Sefie, but there is no way you can get me; I am the one who practically invented that game." Irvine laughed and with a wave of his hand disregarded her statement.

Selphie became even more panicked. "Irvine, I'm not kidding, there is some THING on your hat!" Selphie screamed this time drawing the attention of everyone else in the car. Rinoa quickly turned around and her jaw dropped, as her eyes were bugging out of her head.

Irvine looks around and sees that everyone is just as freaked out if not more than Selphie is. That's when it hits him, Selphie wasn't joking.

Suddenly he feels a strange sensation crawling on the side of his face. Irvine's stomached dropped; he could feel it getting closer to his mouth. His heartbeat began to race, sweat erupted out of every pore, and he almost started hyperventilating.

"AAAAAHHHHHH" Irvine let out a hilarious girl scream, louder than Selphie, Rinoa, and Quistis could do together. He started hopping around in his seat slapping himself in the face. He fumbled around for a few moments looking for the handle to unroll his window, finally he found it and hurled his hat out the window.

Extremely high pitched screams continued to emerge from the young man until everyone started bursting out laughing. Selphie was hunched over, almost on the floor with tears streaming down her face.

"What! What in Hyne is so funny! I almost got eaten back there!" Irvine roared, and then looked back at the blonde couple rolling with laughter.

"What are you two laughing at?" Irvine harshly questioned and then saw in Zell's hand a small Chocobo feather. Immediately Irvine's face became red and anger swelled over his features.

"What the hell is wrong with you people? Are ya trying to give me a damn heart attack?" Irvine was on a rampage and then turned back around and stared out the window sulking.

"Oh Irvy, it was just a joke." Selphie tried to ease her boyfriend.

"…." Irvine didn't reply.

"Oh come on man I'm sorry." Zell apologized with a slight smirk on his face, because he was still trying to stop laughing.

"You owe me a hat!" Irvine pouted.

Zell ruffled up his hair and messed up his usually perfect ponytail. "Nah I think you look fine without it." Zell teased.

Selphie couldn't help but burst out into another giggling fit at her boyfriend's hysterical hairstyle that was going everywhere.

That was the last straw Irvine immediately turned around and started punching Zell in the arms and legs.

"Hey you two, knock it off, were here!" Squall commanded.

Zell and Irvine immediately stop, and silence once again reigned in the vehicle. Everyone files out of the car and splits into there teams.

"Alright guys, this is it, no mistakes. Be on your guard, and by careful. Irvine's team will take the outer left perimeter of the tomb and my team will take the right, we should meet somewhere in the middle and then we will finish as a group cleaning out the middle halls. Good luck." Squall quickly briefed his teammates and then proceeded walking into the tomb.

Everyone followed, upon reaching the entrance the two teams split. Suddenly Zell got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

'_Something…is wrong…' _Zell's thoughts warned.

Quistis noticed a sudden breeze towards her back and turned around to see Zell standing still. "Zell is something wrong?" Quistis worriedly questioned.

"…No…"

**A/N: ** Hey this chpater was supposed to be **a lot longer, and really tense**, especially with Zell and the mission, but my computer sucks and wont let me load any large documents or something. So I changed a few things and decided to put this little chapter, mostly about Selphie in here for **Selphie Fan! Yeay! ** Well I hope you like it, and don't worry I got a chapter somehwere for **AZND45**, I mean how could I leave you out, you've been there for like...umm...ever...So I just want to say once again THANK YOU TWO FOR MY REVIEWS! you guys are **AWESOME**! BOOYAH!


	5. Something's Wrong

**Ch.5: _Something's Wrong..._**

Zell could feel all the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. At first glance the tomb is a sight of immense beauty and awe, it as though it has an ethereal glow around it. But that is only on the outside, as soon as you step into its hollow halls, a feeling of dread will corrode your body, as it had done for Zell.

It was frightfully cold inside, despite the seamlessly endless array of sunshine. The splintered walls were damp through the narrow corridors and seemed to ooze a strange sticky substance from them, almost like the walls themselves were crying out in pain.

A slight trickle of a stream swept along the sides of each hallway, making the journey even more "enjoyable." A dark ominous eerie sensation flowed throughout this strange place.

Zell pulled his gloves on tighter and prepared himself. He realized he was lagging behind a bit, and hurriedly caught up.

Suddenly a horrendous cackle erupted from the next bend.

Squall whipped around to face his team. "Alright guys, here we go, get ready!" Squall commanded with a nod.

Simultaneously Zell and Quistis return the nod. They head around the bend only to encounter a massive Behemoth dominating the hall. Almost involuntarily the three warriors enter battle formation, Squall in the middle with the two blondes at his outer perimeter.

The Behemoth's massive roar reverberated off the walls making it even more excruciating to Zell's ears. Zell's hand flew up to his ears desperately trying to drowned out this ear piercing sound. Finally he couldn't take it anymore; he rushed in for the first strike. He ran in with incredible speed, and reared back his fist.

"Zell wait!" Squall reprimanded, but it was too late.

As Zell's fist was about to plunge deep within the abdomen of the creature before him, he was caught completely off guard and with one swipe of the creature's immense tail Zell was slammed against the concrete wall with horrific force.

"AHHH!" Zell's screamed seemed to be devoid of all sound, all that could be heard was a sickening when he hit the wall. Zell slumped on the floor and immediately gasped for air.

Quistis rushed to his side, "Zell are you ok?" Her voice was worried and in a panic.

Zell knew at least two or three of his ribs were broken because of the torturous pain he felt every time he breathed. "I'm…fine…" Zell managed, despite the shear agony.

Zell's head began to throb and his once lively and bright azure eyes dulled and glazed over. A sharp ringing entered Zell's ears, he thought he could hear Quistis say something, but it seemed mumbled.

Then all at once an intense pain ripped through his chest, and the sickening crack made its presence known once again. Zell could feel his chest expand and then return to normal size, and after a few moments the pain was gone all that was left was a warm sensation cascading over his body.

Zell took in a deep breath, this time with no pain, he was relieved, but soon remembered he was in the middle of a battle.

'_Shit!´ _Zell cursed himself for his inattentiveness.

"Zell did Curaga work?" Quistis questioned her use of magic.

"Yeah thanks, I owe you one." Zell hastily replied, as a feeling of embarrassment swept over him.

Squall was the next one to rush the colossal beast, and with a quick slash, Squall delivered a final blow. In its final moments the Behemoth let out an excruciating screech, before laying lifeless and slowly evaporating into a pile of nothingness.

Squall whipped around and glared at Zell. "Zell what were you thinking rushing in there like that! It was very reckless and you could have endangered the rest of the team! Get it together, or else!" Squall harshly scorned Zell.

"I…I'm sorry, but the ear piercing ringing noise. It just made me freak…I…I'm sorry." Zell apologized as his gaze fell to the floor beneath him, afraid that if he made eye contact with Squall it would only make things worse.

"ZELL! What in Hyne are you talking about, there was no ringing noise! Now be responsible and just admit that you rushed in foolishly, don't make ridiculous excuses!" Squall lashed out at the young blonde.

Zell jumped back, completely surprised. "What! Don't tell me you didn't hear it, I mean it almost drove me mad!"

Just as Squall was about to lecture Zell, Quistis jumped in the middle of them. "Hey! You two cut it out this instant, we are on the same team here, now just relax, it was an honest mistake, now we have a job to do." Quistis stern voice overpowered the two males and they gave in.

"Whatever…" Squall's usual reply came forth, as he turned back around and continued on his way.

Zell trudge along quietly, with his thoughts constantly questioning him.

"_Dammit! What in Hyne is wrong with me? I should have been able to take on two Behemoth's at once without even a scratch to show for it! Maybe it's just nerves, I mean Quistis is my girlfriend now, and I do want to impress her…I guess I might not be concentrating fully…"_

Zell's troublesome thoughts were interrupted.

"Zell are you ok?" Quistis questioned worriedly.

'_Damn…that same question…' _"Of course, I guess I'm just a little rusty." Zell answered with a phony grin curled on his lips.

"Ok, don't worry about Squall, he didn't mean to yell at you, he is just worried about Galbadia." Quistis said soothingly.

"Yeah…I know." Zell responded dejectedly.

The two blondes pick up there pace, and caught back up with their commander.

'_I…just hope I am only out of practice, and I'm not fully concentrating…' _Zell became lost in his thoughts only to be interrupted by that same feeling of dread, muddling in the pit of his stomach.

His body grew extremely hot and his breathing became shallow. He could feel the sweat trickle down his forehead, into his eyes, stinging them, making it difficult to see.

'_Damn, what is wrong with…me…'_ Zell staggered and placed a steadying hand on the battered wall to his right.

Luckily he noticed Squall suddenly stop. Squall turned around with a finger to his lips warning everyone to keep silent.

Only a few seconds later a Torama burst around the corner and leaped at Squall. Effortlessly Squall shifted his body weight just enough for the creature to glide pass him.

Quistis let out a small squeak only because the suddenness of it all spooked her. Zell was still leaned up against the wall panting heavily, his eyes glazed over and his vision blurred, but it was though he was witnessing everything in slow motion.

'_What is going on?' _Zell went to take a step forward, but his knee immediately buckled under the strain.

Zell heard another scream from Quistis, but this time it was because she was being attacked by the beast. The Torama went in for another attack and dove towards Quistis, who was still recovering from the last strike.

Zell's shadowy vision instantly cleared and his body shifted into autopilot. He sprang up and dove towards Quistis, wrapping his arms around her waist and effectively pushing her out of the way of the attack.

The cat-like beast landed only a few feet behind Zell, but instantly turned and leaped at Zell. Zell quickly reacted with a devastating punch to the beast's midsection. A thunderous roar emanated from the beast, as Zell's fist plunged deep within its abdomen, scouring for a critical strike. The Torama spinned in mid air and landed on his feet, as though the attack barely phased it.

'_What, how can that be, I connected cleanly, he should be a pile of rotting flesh by now! What is wrong with me?' _Zell ripped through his mind searching for any explanation for this anomaly concerning his fighting skills.

Squall lets out an aggravated sigh. He looks over to see Quistis kneeling on the ground drinking a potion, and Zell also on the ground. Just as Squall was about to rush the creatures' back, he feels all the muscles in his body tense, almost to the point of paralysis.

He tries to move, but his movements are sluggish and awkward. "Dammit, I've been hit with a slow spell!" Squall cursed the others for making him let his guard down and focus on them.

The Torama whips around and stares at Zell. Suddenly Zell could feel pressure, immense pressure all round his entire body. His vision goes black; he is staring into a void of nothingness. His ears pop as the pressure increases to immense proportions. He can feel the air from his lungs being sucked from his body, then all at once pain erupts throughout his body as a blinding light surrounds him.

Tiny cuts rip throughout his skin, and blood sluggishly falls from his wounds.

'_Damn, it was…Demi…I…I can't move, but I have too!' _Zell's mind wills his body to stand. Zell manages to balance on wobbly legs, his back is hunched over and his arms are hanging limply at his sides.

He looks over and sees Quistis is finally back to normal after drinking a potion, but he can't see Squall. He frantically searches for his commander, and finally notices a glimmer of sunlight reflecting off his necklace. He peers through the dark shadows and sees that Squall is lying on the ground and it is as though his is paralyzed, he is barely moving.

"Quistis, go help Squall! He has been hit with some sort of spell!" Zell yells to his teammate and once again focuses on the opponent in front of him.

'_Damn, if I cast a spell now, the Torama is likely to dodge it; there is only one chance left. I…I just hope I can do it…' _Zell's thoughts were shattered as beast began charging forward with incredibly speed.

"Here we go, it's NOW OR NEVER!" Zell's body erupts with a fierce energy. He slams his foot on the ground startling the cat-like being before him, as he feels the burning sensation flow throughout his body. Zell's blood feels as if it is on fire, his fists clench tight.

Zell's eyes burst open and he rushes his opponent with a flurry of combos, he starts by connecting solidly with his punch rush combo, and immediately lifts his right leg high in the air and slams it down hard on the skull of the Torama for his patented heel drop technique. He jumps back and summons the remainder of his strength for one final attack; he cocks his waist and pulls back his right fist as far as it will go. Then with the Torama still dazed from the flurry of attacks Zell leaps forward off his right foot, and unwinds with his Meteor Barret punch. His fist slices right through the beast, sending it back to whatever hell it came from.

Zell lands on the other side of the rotting corps, he collapses to one knees and sweat pours from his face mingling with the water from the damp tiles below. His ears perk up as he hears a loud crash come from the next corner.

"That's where Squall and Quistis are!" Zell stands up and goes to run forward, but after a couple of feet, his balance wavers and he falls to the ground.

"Dammit! Curaga!" Zell's yell calls forth a mythical healing spell. A familiar warm sensation caresses his injuries and lessons the pain to a slight throbbing. Zell's breathing regulated and his eyes became focused once more.

He was able to stand on his own free will now, without having to worry about collapsing. He races towards the noise of the crash, and finds an Iron Giant lay on the ground before him disassembled.

He looks over and sees that Quistis has already effectively cured Squall and she seemed to be fine as well. Zell steps over the rusted metal before it disintegrates, and rejoins his friends.

"If we keep going like this, we aren't going to have enough cure magic or items to last throughout the mission!" Squall warned with a disgusted look on his face. "Zell, Quistis either you two get it together, or we are all going to fail this mission! Not to mention the peace of Balamb and the rest of the world!" Squall spit venomously at the two blondes.

"Hey Squall, don't take this out on us alright! Yeah I messed up, but it's Quistis' fault! Plus yelling at us isn't going to make the situation any better." Zell's hot temper roared back. "Plus we weren't the only ones in trouble." Zell spat, pointing an accusing finger at Squall.

Squall let out an angry sigh and kept moving forward. Quistis and Zell kept their distance only a couple feet behind Squall, they would like to be further away from their stressed leader, but they didn't want him to get caught in an ambush.

After several more tough battles, and several more Squall lectures they finally made it to the center.

"We will wait here for the others to arrive, no sense in going in ahead of them." Squall informed, and then went back to being silent, with his arms crossed in front of him, tapping the Lion Heart on his shoulder impatiently.

Zell and Quistis both kept their gaze on the ground, not wanting to disturb the silence that shadowed them, so they wouldn't give away their position, and so they wouldn't upset Squall anymore than he already was.

It didn't take long for Zell to become lost in his thoughts once more.

'_What is Hyne is wrong with me? First my attacks seem to be useless and then, my body is completely out of shape, what could the problem be? I just hope I can make it through the rest of the mission without…' _Zell snapped back to reality upon hearing a certain perky voice.

"Eww…Icky!" Selphie cringed as she was splattered with Imp blood.

"Oh calm down Sefie, it isn't going to kill you." Came Irvine's mocking tone.

A few seconds later their silhouettes shot out from the bend. The seemingly endless cracks of sunlight that spewed from the ceiling cast just enough light for Irvine's team to come in contact with Squall's team.

"Hey guys! Did you have a pleasant hunting?" Irvine excitedly questioned.

When he didn't receive a response he frowned and looked at Selphie, but his gaze was quickly averted as a bubbly Rinoa burst through his line of vision and flung her tiny arms around Squall.

Squall didn't return the warm embrace; instead he just let out a sigh.

"Squally, what's wrong?" Rinoa whined, wondering why her boyfriend wouldn't hug her.

A soft hand is placed on Rinoa's shoulder. "Rinny, don't ask, everything is fine, we just got into some trouble here and there, but no worries." Quistis reassured her friend, that nothing was wrong with her relationship with Squall.

Rinoa hugged Quistis and smiled. "Thanks Quisty." Rinoa beamed upon the realization that Squall still loved her.

"Let's get going." Squall finally growled.

Squall led and everyone followed, the battles there on out went fairly easily as there were six team members instead of just three. The hollow walls of the tomb once again were barren, only a few monsters here and there could be heard. But since this wasn't a complete extermination mission, they left them for the time being and made their way back to Balamb.

Stepping out of the tomb the sky was dark; night had fallen upon the earth.

The tension in the car ride wasn't any better. Everyone remained quiet, even Selphie and Irvine, which was practically a miracle!

After an unusually quiet car ride they finally reached Balamb and everyone even Squall let out a sigh of relief. Everyone filed out of the car and into the parking lot.

"Well I need to give my report to Cid. The mission was a success, I guess, so that means you are all free until something else comes up." Squall stated in a rash tone and then he and Rinoa left for Cid's office.

"Man what was his problem?" Selphie questioned while placing her hands on her delicate hips.

"It's a long story Selph." Zell tiredly replied.

Irvine and Selphie both shook their heads and then bounded off.

"Where do they get the energy?" Quistis asked the blonde standing next to her.

"I have no idea!" Zell replied and then they both snickered.

It was getting really late and Zell decided to walk Quistis to her room. As they walked together with their fingers entwined lovingly, they talked, nothing important, just about why all those monsters could be inside the tomb.

Finally they reached Quistis' room. Quistis stared deep within Zell's eyes and saw something was amiss. She couldn't place her finger on it, but something was seriously wrong.

"Zelly, is there something bothering you?" Quistis worriedly questioned her obviously distraught boyfriend.

Zell sighed heavily, debating on what to say. "…No…" Zell replied dejectedly, and kept his gaze on the door in front of him.

"Oh Zell, you know you can tell me anything, don't…you?" Quistis obviously truly cared for Zell.

A warm smile crossed his face. "I know Quistis, and that means so much to me, I…I honestly don't know what I'd do without you…I love you…" Zell coo'd in her ear, and embraced her with a loving kiss on the lips.

"I love you too Zell, you are my best friend." Quistis replied softly.

Zell gazed at the gorgeous blonde before and gently caressed the side of her face. "Quisty, you are so beautiful, you are just perfect." Zell started but was interrupted.

"No I'm not…" Quistis was unable to finish as Zell softly placed a finger over her tender lips.

"No that's the thing, you truly are perfect, in every single way, and that's what…scares me…"

Quistis' face dropped, and a look of terror flooded her features.

'_What, is Zell going to break up with me? I…I don't think I could take it?' _Quistis' thoughts raced as she was in a panic.

"Don't worry…it just scares me because Quisty…I…I'm not perfect, and I know I never will be, but you are and I love that about you…You are beautiful, smart, graceful, funny, you are everything I could possible want and more…"

Zell lets out a slight chuckle. "Honestly I don't know what you see in me, but I'm glad you see something. The thing is…since I'm not perfect; I constantly have a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach…Quistis…" Zell gazed at her with watery eyes as he grabbed the side of her face, fixing her gaze with his own.

Quistis could feel her heart race with passion, love, and also fear. She didn't know why, but every emotion was tearing through her as she stare at the love of her life, who was spilling his soul to her. Her eyes too began to water and her lip started quivering.

"Quistis…I just don't want to loose you…I love you so much, I just couldn't take loosing you…without you I would have nothing to live for, you are my heart, my soul, and most of all you are my life…" Zell watched as his words pierced Quistis' soul and tears began to spill willingly. Zell tried gently rubbing his thumb across her cheek to wipe them away, but there were far too many.

"Oh Zell, you will never loose me, I love you too much!" Quistis cried and dove head first into his chest.

"I know, but I just get so scared, because you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, you make me feel so special. Without you I just don't know what I would do with myself, I'd be….I'd be so lonely…" Zell whispered in her ear.

Quistis could feel wet droplets dance upon the back of her neck, and that made her sob even harder. Finally she looked up at her boyfriend who still had unshed tears stinging his eyes; her gaze was intense, as was his.

"Zell promise me...promise me we will always be together." Quistis pleaded with her boyfriend.

Zell was shocked; she was asking **him** to promise **her** that they would always be together, that she would never loose him? "Quistis…I promise!" Zell spoke sincerely and sealed it with a heartfelt kiss that ignited a fire within both of them.

Their tender moment was broken as Squall's booming voice echoed over the loud speaker. "Quistis Trepe, please report to my office, Quistis Trepe please report to my office immediately, thank you."

"Well he sounded irritated." Zell sneered.

"Yeah I know, well I guess I should get going. I don't want to get him even angrier." Quistis replied and gave Zell a sweet peck on the cheek.

"You want me to go with you?" Zell questioned worriedly.

"No I'll be fine, plus it is getting late and you should get some rest, I'll see you in the morning." Quistis said sweetly and waved her boyfriend off.

Zell sighed, "Oh ok, I love you." Zell called to her.

"I love you too." She called back.

Zell walked back to his dorm. "I wonder what Squall wanted to talk to Quisty about so suddenly. Whatever it was, it was really important." Zell talked to the listening shadows in his room.

Quistis was in hysterics, bawling her eyes out in Squall's office. "Squall please don't ask me to, please Squall I'm begging you, anything, ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Quistis cried angrily at the man sitting across from her at the table.

"Quistis I'm sorry, but I talked with Cid and he thinks that this may be the best solution, at least for a little while." Squall replied in a tone that seemed emotionless.

"Squall I can't, I can't do that to him! NO, NO I WON'T, I'M SORRY BUT I WONT DO THIS!" Her yelling became more frantic and tears willingly flooded down her delicate cheeks.

A man appeared behind Quistis and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. She couldn't really see through all her tears, but his voice gave him away.

"Quistis, this may be for the best." Came Cid's soft voice.

Quistis just sobbed even harder, and breathing became impossible.

"Zell….I'm so...sorry" Quistis cried in her hands.

**A/N: What could Squall and Cid possibly be asking Quistis to do? And what does it have to do with Zell!** Well this chpater was a long one, and that's b/c I told **AZND45** I had one for him, and HERE IT IS!BOOYAH! Well I just hope you all like it, it took me a while, and I'm glad my computer actually loaded it! Yeay! ** AZND45 and Selphie Fan,** you two RCOK, AW YEAH BABY! Sorry it took so long to post, but no worries, the next chapter will be up soon, thanks for not giving up on me:) Later...


	6. Separation

_**What it Takes... **_

**Ch.6:_ Separation_  
**

The sun seemingly rose from the Earth's crust and took its rightful place in the heavens. With an arm haphazardly slung over Zell's face, he was immune to the sun's rays. After an hour or so, Zell finally begins to stir.

The small blonde sits up, and removes the blankets strewn about him. A lather large yawn escapes the small man as he sits on the edge of the bed and rests his elbows on his knees. Another yawn exudes the small blonde as he stretches floridly.

He stands up and then stumbles his way to the bathroom. He turns on the faucet and pulls off his boxers. He learns up again the shower door, listening to the torrent of water crash against the tile floor.

After a few moments he jumps in and proceeds to clean his body. It didn't take long, before he was all clean and already drying off. Zell's ears perk up as a loud rapping appears at his door.

"Yup, hold on." Zell groggily calls from inside.

Zell throws on a tee and some shorts and makes his way to the door, despite his ridiculously fluffy and frizzy hair. He pulls the door open only to be staring directly into puffy, bloodshot eyes.

"What in Hyne happened to you?" Zell asked concernedly. "You look like the living dead!" Zell smirked and playfully poked Quistis in the arm cautiously.

Quistis' head hangs low and her usual shiny honey colored hair is now extremely uncharacteristically greasy, as it slithers down her neck and drapes over her face.

Zell could hear muffled sobs coming from the blonde standing before him. Zell begins to frown, wondering what could possibly be the matter, but he disregards that and lovingly wraps her in a tender hug. He pulls her close and soothingly strokes her back, trying to console her.

"Quisty…What is wrong? What's the matter?" Zell's whispers in her ear.

Quistis didn't even return Zell's warm embrace, this made him very nervous. A worried look shrouds his features when Quistis doesn't respond or even react to anything Zell is doing or saying.

"Qui…Quistis, please tell me what's wrong!" Zell's tone becomes more frantic with each passing moment, as the love of his life stands before him, tears streaming down her face and completely silent.

Finally he could feel her body tense up, and two tiny hands placed on his chest. A smile starts to overcome Zell, but is quickly dispersed as those same hands begin to push the two lovers apart.

Reluctantly Zell's grasp is broken and he stands utterly confused with what's going on.

"Zell…" Quistis starts shakily while staring at the floor.

"Quistis what is going on here! Why…why wont you look at me?" A look of panic overcomes Zell, as he just stares at greasy hair.

Silence once again reigns over the two. Zell slowly reaches his hand out and tries to cup the slightly taller blonde's chin to make her gaze meet his. Just as Zell's fingertips gently grazed Quistis' quivering chin she pushes his hand away.

Zell cocks an eyebrow, completely oblivious to what is wrong.

"Zell…I…we…" Quistis stuttered, through unshed tears.

Zell could feel his heart's thunderous rhythm pound through his chest, echoing in his ears, and shaking his entire body. His throat becomes dry, and tears begin to sting his eyes. Now he is not so sure he wants to hear what Quistis has to say…

"Zell…we…I…I think it would best if we don't see each other for a while…" Quistis managed and continued her reluctant bawling beneath her blanket of hair.

Zell's heart stopped as a fist of ice plunged into the depths of his soul. His eyes went wide with shock, he couldn't believe what she had just said, and he didn't want to. He could feel his hands begin to uncontrollably shake and his breathing became short and accelerated.

"What…?" Was all that would come out of the young blonde's mouth as he stood there stupefied.

Quistis could feel her heart ache as she had just crushed Zell. All she wanted to do, is tell him it was one sick joke and run back to him with loving arms and hold him forever and never let go.

'_Oh Zell…' _Quistis cried in her mind.

She couldn't take it anymore; she couldn't bear seeing Zell hurt this way, and know it was because of her. She turned around and began to leave, as tears flowed from her eyes freely.

"But you made me promise...we would always be together! You…you said you…loved..me…" Zell choked on the lump in his throat.

Quistis stopped in mid-stride. She did promise Zell that, and she wanted to promise him so much more, but she couldn't…It wasn't her decision.

"Zell…" She stopped, knowing that she shouldn't tell Zell, but her mind cried that he should, as did her heart.

"But…why…why Quisty, is it…is it because of the last mission, I…I know I messed up really bad, but I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I'll, I'll try harder! Please, I promise I'll try harder! Don't leave me, I…I need you…"

Quistis could feel her heart rip in half right there, she couldn't believe what Zell had just said, it tore through her soul, her being, everything. Zell said he needed her, for once in her life she was needed, and not just because it was for a mission, but because she was loved. But that wasn't what ripped through her soul, it was the other part. All her life she had never known Zell to say he would try harder, because unlike everyone else he was the only one who would give it his all and then some EVERYTIME!

Everyone knew Zell to be like that, he didn't have anymore to give. He was the only one they could count on to put in literally 110 percent. He was the best person to go on a mission with, because no matter what he would never give up.

"Zell! It's not you! Don't say that, you give it your all every time, and that is enough!" Quistis yelled, as she whipped around, her gaze intense, as she stares deep into Zell's dejected eyes.

Zell lowers his head, "Obviously this time it wasn't enough…" Zell whispered, through hurt words.

Quistis couldn't take it anymore, she finally broke. "Zell I'm so sorry, you know I would never break a promise Zell, especially not to you…I…I truly love you Zell!" Quistis spoke sincerely, her gaze softened as she gazed into Zell's two azure orbs, embedded into his head.

"Zell I still love you, but it's just that we need to be in top shape for the next few missions, so we just can't spend as much time together that's all. We can still be going out, but we just won't have the official title. I still love you and hopefully you still love me and there is nothing and I mean NOTHING that can change that. All we need to do is focus more on our training and planning, but we can still see each other every now and then, ok?" Quistis rambled as her emotions got the best of her, a small trait she picked up from, whom else…Zell.

Zell's eyes brightened up slightly and Quistis took notice, she knew this was a small, but good gesture.

"Ok, Quisty, of course I still love you, and I really am sorry about the last mission." Zell spoke softly and understandingly.

Quistis cocked her head, much like a curious puppy and looked deep at Zell, wondering if he was really telling the truth, or if he was still hurt, but Zell took notice.

"Quisty, you're the best! You know this may be a good idea, I do need some brushing up on my combat skills." Zell spoke through his normal façade and put on his effervescent toothy smile.

Quistis just smiled at her goofy "boyfriend" and gave him a quick but loving kiss on the lips, letting him know, she truly does love him.

"Well Zell, I should probably get going, I don't want anyone seeing the "living dead" as someone so elegantly put it." Quistis teased.

Zell blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I was just kidding, you always look beautiful to me." Zell replied with a wink.

Quistis just shook her head and was off on her way. Zell watched as his goddess walked down the hallway back to her room. When she was out of his sight he shut the door, and leaned his back up against it, while his mind replayed the moments just seconds ago. He sighed.

Zell's body tensed up as the images made him want to vomit. A frown cursed it's way onto his features. Zell was speechless as anger cursed through every fiber of his being.

"What's wrong with me?" Zell cursed himself aloud. He flipped himself off the door, and then clenched his fist tight. He whipped around with blinding speed and slammed his fist into the adjacent wall.

He couldn't feel any pain; all he could feel was anger…at himself…

As he pulled his fist from the wall, tiny pieces of sheetrock spewed from the hole. A slight dripping noise caught Zell's ear, he gazed at the source of the noise on the floor. A small bright puddle of red lay beneath his feet, with a steady drip feeding it. His gaze falls to his hand, and he sees the gashes and lacerations, the source of the blood.

His frown just becomes more intense with a severe disdain.

"…Weak…"

**A/N:** Well I'm sorry this took so long to post, usually I post at least once a doy, but with two sotries it is kind of difficult. But I just want to thank my newiest reviewer Draven Nightly, because without his review this post probably would have taken much longer. So I hope you like this chapter, and hope you still read this story, along with my other one! And keep reviewing, cuz lord knows I need them! Well thanks a lot, and hopefully the next chapt. will be up soon, because things are about to take a turn for the worst!


	7. Staring Deep into One's own Soul

**Ch.7: _Staring Deep into One's own Soul_  
**

Moments pass as Zell stands motionless in the center of his room, lost in his own thoughts. A while later he finally snaps out of his reverie, he walks towards the sink and begins running cool water over his hand.

"Damn, what is wrong with me?" Zell winces slightly, not at the pain, but at the gruesomeness of the task at hand.

With his wound thoroughly cleaned he opens the top drawer on his dresser and pulls out some gauze and medical tape. Slowly and cautiously he begins tightly wrapping his hand with gauze and then follows up by the tape.

After a few minutes he finishes, and he examines his work carefully. He shakes his head in conformation that he did a good job. It looks much like a regular wrap job for a boxer, before he puts on his gloves.

So nobody gets suspicious he wraps his other hand in the same manner, and figures everyone will think he is going too, or was just training.

The day passed like any other, except for one major thing, he didn't hang out with Quistis. But other than that everything went as usual, he went to the training center for a few hours and after had his celebratory hot dogs.

While in the cafeteria he saw Quistis walk by and wave. He wanted so bad to run out and talk to her, or just give her a hug, anything, but he knew he couldn't, so he just flashed her the widest smile he could manage despite all the food in his teeth and waved back.

After that Zell wasn't hungry, he pushed his plate aside and leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. A sudden jerk backwards and Zell felt like he was going to fall, so he flopped around trying to catch his balance, but it didn't work, once again he fell right on his ass, the normal spot.

While lying upside down, he caught a glimpse of a cowboy pointing and laughing at him.

"Smooth move Zell!" Irvine drawled in between laughs.

"Very funny Irvine." Zell huffed, and proceeded to fix his chair and sit back down.

"So I haven't seen you around all day, what have you been doing?" Irvine questioned while stealing one of Zell's hotdogs.

Zell didn't even try to stop him, for the first time in his life, he was full of hotdogs. "Nothing, just had a lot on my mind lately and I needed some time to think." Zell replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah no worries man. It looks like you just got done doing some training." Irvine pointed to Zell's taped fists.

Zell hastily removes his hands from the table and places them nervously on his lap. "Yeah…well I should get going." Zell started to get up from the table.

"Hey wait, where are ya goin'?" Irvine questioned and reached for Zell.

"Ugh…no where really, just going to go back to my room and catch some Z's." Zell tried to be as calm as possible, but sweat erupted on his face.

"But it is only 6, come on man, the night is young, and so are we, let's chill." Irvine got up and put his arm around Zell's shoulders.

Zell stepped back and lifted the cowboy's arm up off him. "Sorry Irv, but I'm beat man, maybe some other time." Zell finished and walked away, leaving a confused Irvine behind.

Zell shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts as he made his way back to his room. Irvine was right, it was pretty early to be going to bed, but with the way things have been going, Zell could use all the sleep he could get.

Zell made it to his door without any other interruptions. As soon as he opens the door he is gripped into a huge bear hug. Zell's eye's burst out of his head, and he gasps for air.

"Hiya Zelly!" Came the sweet voice of a tiny, but very, very strong brunette.

Zell tried to reply, but couldn't due to lack of oxygen. Finally the relentless hold ceases and Zell drew in a much needed breath of air.

"So Zell, whatcha doing?" Selphie curiously asked, bouncing up and down.

'_God she can be so hyper sometimes.' _"Nothing really, just going to bed." Zell faked a yawn and stretched. "Yeah, I'm really tired."

"Oh come on, we should go do something tonight, all of us." Selphie encouraged.

Zell thought about it for a brief moment, wondering if Quistis would be there, but he remember he wasn't supposed to spend time with her. "Nah I'm way too tired Selph, but Irvine said he wanted to do something, you should go asked him. I mean he is your boyfriend and all." Zell said trying to get her to leave him alone.

"Yeah he is, but I wanted all of us to do something, he and I hang out everyday, and that is a lot of Irvine." Selphie giggled. "So come on, and stop being such a baby." Selphie teased and grabbed Zell's arm.

"No!" Zell ripped his arm away, leaving Selphie shocked. "Just leave me alone and get off my back!" Zell roared, scaring Selphie. He quickly turned around and went to his room, slamming the door hard in the stunned brunette's face.

A frown was plastered on Selphie's face as she stares a hole through the wall. "What's his problem?" Selphie murmured to herself, as she made her way down the hall.

Zell shook his head, and sighed. He made his way to his bed and curled up, pulling the blankets tight. As he gazed into the corners of his room, he just wished the day would be over.

As the sun rose on the start of a new day, Zell emerged more depressed than ever. The previous mission was really taking its toll on Zell's psyche. He barely had any ambition to do anything and his social status went 0, not like it was much higher before.

Squall's stern voice boomed over the loud speaker, "Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, Rinoa Heartilly, Selphie Tilmitt, and Quistis Trepe please come to the conference room"

Everyone made it to the conference room promptly. Quistis looked around the room wondering where Zell could be. Her stomach began to twist as it kept getting later and later.

"Well let's begin." Squall started, but stopped abruptly as Quistis spoke up.

"Zell's not there." She sated an obvious fact, but a serious one none the less.

"Yes I know, but that isn't my problem and we really need to get started." Squall replied firmly.

Quistis lowered her head, and only thoughts of Zell flooded her mind.

"We will be heading to Galbadia, there have been recent reports of attacks towards their military. We think it is just an excuse to start a war, but as a show of good faith Balamb is going to aid in security and make sure everything is ok. And since this is a show of good faith, we aren't getting paid either." Squall started.

"What? We ain't getting paid, that sucks!" Irvine drawled and kicked back in his seat while putting his feet on the table.

Squall just cocked and eyebrow and continued. "Yes, well that doesn't matter, what matters is that we help them out, but make sure we stay on our guard, who knows what they could be planning, it might be an ambush. So just be prepared and we will be leaving at noon tomorrow, so get some rest. That will be all for now."

After twenty minutes or so the meeting was finished. Squall briefed everyone on the next mission, and waved everyone goodbye. He walked over to Quistis and placed a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of a daze.

"Quistis, just make sure Zell gets all the info, about our next mission. And tell him to be more prepared!" Squall commanded and walked out the room with Rinoa by his side.

Quistis almost broke down right there, but she held it back. "Zell where are you!" Quistis questioned aloud out of frustration.

As she walked scouring the Garden for any sign of Zell she wondered what was wrong with him, how could he miss a meeting like that, and not even explain why he missed it.

She figured she would try the usual place, the training center. Upon entering her hand slowly made its way to her waist, and gripped her Save the Queen.

She made her way around the center uncontested, which was a nice surprise.

"Dammit I could have sworn he would be here!" Quistis cursed aloud.

When walking back towards the exit she caught a glimpse of a silhouette standing out on the terrace of the "Secrete Spot." Slowly she made her way over; the shadows vanish and leave a dejected Zell leaning his elbows on the railing, with a far away look in his eyes.

Quistis eyes softened and she places a tender hand on Zell's shoulder, making him jump at the realization he isn't alone anymore.

"Zell…" Quistis started hesitantly.

"Hey be careful, you may get in trouble if you are seen with me." Zell sneered sarcastically.

Quistis was taken back by his rudeness. "Zell what is wrong with you? Ever since the mission you've changed and not in a good way." Quistis said placing her hands on her hips.

"Zell why didn't you come to the meeting today, it was very important. It was about our next mission." Quistis informed.

Once again Zell spoke in silence. He turned around and walked right by the slightly taller blonde as if she wasn't even there.

Quistis anger flared, and she followed Zell back inside the training center. She watched as Zell effortlessly took down a Grat. His movements were beautiful, but very deadly.

Quistis approached Zell from behind and brushed pass him. His fists were still up and he was still in fighting position, as Quistis entered his gaze. She looked at him with determined eyes and entered a fighting pose of her own.

"Spar with me." Quistis challenged.

Zell stared at her with steely eyes. Quistis stood there calmly, waiting patiently for a response.

Zell's eye twitched and he charged with frightening speed. Quistis pulled out her whip and swung it with deadly aim, it wrapped around Zell's foot, sweeping his leg right out from under him.

With a loud thud, Zell fell face first on the ground. Quistis flipped the whip again, ready to strike Zell's chest, but the swift blonde rolled out of the way, and jumped back up to his feet.

He dashed forward and Quistis went for a straight solar plexus slash, but Zell instantaneously side-stepped it and came within striking distance of his own.

Quistis could feel her heart stop as Zell was within range for an attack. Her frightened eyes bore deep within Zell's, she saw nothing in Zell's eyes, nothing but an intense rage. For the first time Quistis, was honestly afraid of Zell, yes she was afraid of being seriously hurt by the "happy go lucky" Zell Dincht.

Zell cocked his hand back and in a split second, he twisted his hips and released a devastating punch with all his might.

Quistis just closed her eyes and let out a small scream and waited for the pain.

Zell watched as his fist neared its target with deadly force and accuracy. A smile devilish smirk slithered across his features.

"Ahh!" Came the scared scream of Quistis.

Her screams ripped through Zell's ears, his eyes widen with the realization of what he was just about to do. At the very last moment his fist comes to an abrupt halt only centimeters in front of Quistis' face. A burst of wind buffets Quistis' hair from Zell's attack.

Quistis hesitantly opens her eyes, when she didn't feel any pain. She wondered if it happened so fast that she was dead, but instead she was staring at Zell's fist. It was so close she could feel the heat radiating off his gloves.

She swallowed hard, and lowered her arms in defeat. Her small hand grabbed the fist blocking her vision and lowered that as well.

She shook her head, and tears welled up in her eyes. Slowly she turned around.

"Zell you could have…really hurt me." Quistis barely spoke, her words vanished as soon as they left her mouth, but they were just loud enough for Zell to hear.

With that Quistis left Zell to question not only his actions, but himself as well.

A/N: Well there you go, this chapter probably would have been up three weeks ago, but my damn computer was being a douche bag, so it took a while longer. Plus work has been murder lately so I'm truly sorry it took so long, hopefully there are some of you out there that will still read it and review. Also a big thank you to Selphie Fan, now I know I have a hard time with tense changes, and i read through this one and it has some mistakes as well, but like I said work sucks and Iu'm getting ready to go back right now. I know that this isn't a good excuse, but I really just wanted to get this post up mistakes or not, so people keep reading and don't think that I'm not going to finish this like so many others. No worries, I finish everything I start! BOOYAH! But please Selphie Fan keep on critiquing my work, because my other story, Shadow of the Sun, I am making sure to keep my tense changes in check, and it's all because of **YOU! ** Well ok next chapter will hopefully be up soon, unless I'm doing another chap. for Shadow of the Sun, and once I get a couple more chapters up on that the rest will go quickly because I practically have the story almost all written out. :) well later...


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